Russians take Máramarossziget

At the beginning of October 1914 Russian troops took Máramarossziget (Polish Syhot, today Sighetu Marmației in Romania), the capital of the Hungarian county of Máramaros. It was the largest town reached by the Russians during their first expedition into Hungary. Sources differ on the exact date. A British chronology of the war gives 3 October, Polish accounts 2 October, and some Hungarian ones 4 October.

The Russian units, mainly Cossack cavalry, crossed the passes of the eastern Carpathians in the last days of September, at a time when other columns were entering Hungary through the Uzsok and Verecke passes. From below the Tatar Pass they descended into the valley of the Tisza and moved down the river towards Máramarossziget.

Máramaros was defended by the weak group of General Árpád Bothmer: four battalions and one battery. His soldiers, mostly older Landsturm reservists, had obsolete rifles, old guns and little equipment. Faced with Russian superiority, Bothmer fell back down the Tisza valley through Rahó and Nagybocskó, left Máramarossziget without a fight and on 3 October took up a position only at Técső, several dozen kilometres further west.

The loss of the county capital increased the alarm caused in Hungary by the appearance of Russians on the southern side of the Carpathians. The Russian units in Máramaros were, however, few in number and far from their own rear. The Austro-Hungarian command sent reinforcements to the area, including two regiments of the Polish Legions, and within a few days went over to the counter-attack.